A woman has filed a Taxotere hair loss lawsuit against the manufacturers of Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug prescribed to women battling breast cancer.

According to the Taxotere hair loss lawsuit, plaintiff Patricia P., a resident of the state of Florida, took Taxotere as part of her chemotherapy. She alleged it caused her to permanently lose her hair, a condition known as permanent alopecia.

She alleges that she began taking Taxotere on Nov. 16, 2005, while her last date of use was on Dec. 28, 2005.

The defendant Sanofi S.A. faces multiple counts including: Strict Products Liability, Negligence, Negligent Misrepresentation, Fraudulent Misrepresentation, Fraudulent Concealment, Fraud and Deceit and Breach of Express Warranty.

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit Joins MDL

Patricia’s claim is filed as part of a large multidistrict litigation, or MDL, centered on allegations that the drug Taxotere causes permanent alopecia when women take the drug for chemotherapy when battling breast cancer.

According to the Taxotere hair loss lawsuit, Taxotere, also known as docetaxel, has been on the market since the mid-1990s since its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Taxotere hair loss lawsuit accuses the drug’s manufacturer’s Sanofi S.A., of allegedly failing to provide sufficient and adequate warning labels for Taxotere. The plaintiffs’ contention is that Taxotere’s labeling simply stated that hair “generally grows back” once a woman has completed her chemotherapy treatment.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, issued a label change for the drug in December 2015, only after they had cited cases in which women have suffered from permanent alopecia.

Accusations against Sanofi maintain that the defendant knew of this adverse side effect but failed to warn and make note of such outcomes in patients.

According to the Taxotere hair loss lawsuit, “in 2005, Sanofi S.A. and Aventis Pharma S.A. knew that they GEICAM 9805 study demonstrated that 9.2% of patients who took Taxotere had persisted alopecia, or hair loss, for up to 10 years and 5 months, and in some cases longer, after taking Taxotere.”

As a result, Patricia is now bringing counts of Fraudulent Misrepresentation and Fraudulent Concealment against Sanofi.

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit Supporting Studies

According to the Taxotere hair loss lawsuit, “a study of available clinical studies concerning the relative efficacy of Taxanes in the treatment of breast cancer, published in the August 2007 journal Cancer Treatment Review, concluded that no significant differences were found in the efficacy and outcomes obtained with Taxotere.”

Another study cited in the Taxotere hair loss lawsuit states that in a study published in 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine, titled “Weekly Paclitaxel in the Adjuvant Treatment of Breast Cancer,” concluded Taxol, a Taxotere competitor, is “more effective than Taxotere for patients undergoing standard adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide.”

Patricia’s Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-08146-KDE-MBN and is part of the Taxotere Lawsuit MDL, In re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No 2740, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.